The invention relates to a timepiece comprising communication means for performing exchange of information with an external apparatus, and in particular, to a timepiece (mainly wrist watch) capable of changing functions of the timepiece on the basis of information acquired from the external apparatus via the communication means.
With a conventional timepiece, a user who has purchased the timepiece has been able only to sequentially execute functions stored in a read-only memory (ROM) incorporated therein by pushing switching buttons in a predetermined order. Accordingly, he has had to execute even unwanted functions at times because it has been impossible to render parts of the functions temporarily inoperative. Needless to say, it has been impossible for the user to arbitrarily change the order of function selection so as to suit to the user""s convenience.
It has also been impossible for the user to freely assign display of hand shafts to respective hands, to change a pitch at which the respective hands are handled, and a speed of the respective hands, and to change a rotation direction and a rotation angle of the respective hands.
The invention has been developed in view of such a present situation as described above, and it is therefore an object of the invention to provide a timepiece capable of variously changing the functions of the timepiece as necessary on the basis of information communicated from an external apparatus, in particular, changing movements of respective hands and information displayed by the respective hands, in response to preferences and needs of the user.
A timepiece according to the invention is a timepiece comprising communication means for exchanging information with an external apparatus, and in order to achieve the object as described above, the timepiece comprises function selection means capable of changing functions of the timepiece on the basis of information acquired from the external apparatus via the communication means, and a hand shaft control means for controlling movement of hand shafts of the timepiece in response to an instruction for function change given by the function selection means.
Further, the timepiece as described above may comprise a plurality of hand shaft blocks, each comprising at least one or more hand shafts, wherein the hand shaft control means is a means for controlling a hand shaft or hand shafts of some hand shaft blocks among the plurality of the hand shaft blocks in response to the instruction for the function change given by the function selection means, and for controlling a hand shaft or hand shafts of the rest of the hand shaft blocks on the basis of internal information of the timepiece not associated with the information acquired from the external apparatus.
Further, the timepiece preferably comprises a display means for displaying types of information displayed by a hand of the hand shafts controlled by the hand shaft control means in response to the instruction for the function change given by the function selection means.
The timepiece may further comprise a means for making the hand shaft control means to control the hand shafts so as to display with a hand thereof that the communication means is in use for communication when the communication means is in communication with the external apparatus.
Further, the timepiece may further comprise a means for making the display means to display that the communication means is in use for communication when the communication means is in communication with the external apparatus.
The timepiece may further comprise a chargeable battery for supplying electric power to be used internally, and in the case of the communication means being wired communication means capable of receiving electric power from the external apparatus, a charging means for charging the battery by receiving supply of electric power from the external apparatus when the communication means is in communication with the external apparatus may be installed.
Further, the timepiece preferably comprises a power generation means such as a solar cell, enabling the battery to be chargeable all the time by the charging means.
The timepiece preferably comprises means for reducing power consumption by restricting control on the hand shafts operated by the function selection means and the hand shaft control means when the amount of electrical energy that remains in the battery falls short of a predetermined amount.
Furthermore, the timepiece preferably comprises a means for displaying a state of charging when the battery is being charged by the charging means while the communication means is in communication with the external apparatus.
Or in such a case, the timepiece may further comprise a means for making the hand shaft control means to control the hand shaft so as to display a state of charging with a hand thereof.
The hand shaft control means preferably comprises a means for controlling the hand shafts so as to change any of a rotation direction, rotation angle, reciprocating movement, rotation speed of hands, a pitch at which the hands are handled, in response to the instruction for function change given by the function selection means.
For the communication means, an optical communication means for performing exchange of information with the external apparatus by utilizing light may be used.
If the optical communication means is disposed on the underside of a time display face, and exchange of information with the external apparatus is performed by the agency of light outgoing through and incident on the time display face, this will be preferable from a design point of view because the optical communication means become invisible directly from outside.
In case of a hand being in a position blocking light outgoing through and incident on the time display face upon start of communication via the optical communication means, the hand shaft control means is preferably made to control the hand shaft of the hand so as to cause the hand to withdraw to a position not blocking the light.
The timepiece preferably comprises display means for displaying types of information displayed by a hand of the hand shafts controlled by the hand shaft control means in response to the instruction for function change given by the function selection means, so that at least part of the display means is caused to stop displaying when the optical communication means are in communication.
The timepiece may further comprise a sensor for measuring information associated with an application environment of the timepiece, and a means for making the hand shaft control means to control the hand shafts so as to display the information measured by the sensor with the hand of the hand shafts.
Or the timepiece may further comprise the sensor for measuring information associated with the application environment of the timepiece, so that any of the hand shaft blocks to be controlled on the basis of internal information of the timepiece among the plurality of the hand shaft blocks is selected, and the hand shaft control means is made to control the hand shaft or the hand shafts of the hand shaft blocks as selected so as to display the information measured by the sensor with the hand of the hand shaft or the hand shafts.
Further, the timepiece preferably comprises testing means for making the hand shaft control means to control the movement of the hand shafts on a trial basis for short duration on the basis of the information acquired from the external apparatus during or after communication via the communication means.
With the timepiece constituted as above, the functions of the timepiece can be changed by the function selection means on the basis of the information acquired from the external apparatus via the communication means, and it is possible to cause the hand shafts of the timepiece to make movement according to contents based on external information by transmitting the information to the hand shaft control means. That is, the movement of the hand shafts, required by a user, is enabled.
Further, in the case of the so-called multi-hand type analog timepiece provided with a plurality of the hand shaft blocks, each comprising at least one or more hands, contents to be executed by the function selection means can be changed by either writing the information acquired from the external apparatus via the communication means to the RAM, or by erasing information written in the RAM. Further, since the function selection means transmit information corresponding to the contents of the RAM to the hand shaft control means, contents to be displayed by the respective hand shaft blocks can be changed. That is, the user is able to express information contents assigned to the respective hand shaft blocks on the basis of the external information with the movement of the hand of the respective hand shaft blocks.
Furthermore, in the case where the timepiece comprises a large number of the hand shaft blocks, it will result in an increase in the size, thickness and weight of the timepiece to render the hand shaft control means which controls the hand shaft blocks variable in whole on the basis of the external information, thereby deteriorating portability of the timepiece. Accordingly, with the timepiece according to the invention, a method is adopted whereby expression contents of some hand shaft blocks are rendered variable on the basis of the external information while the rest of the hand shaft blocks are operated on the basis of initial and internal information of the timepiece.
As a result, even with the multi-hand type analog timepiece, efficient expression is enabled without subjecting the timepiece to constraints in terms of designing.
Further, operation of the hand shafts is rendered variable by the agency of the hand shaft control means on the basis of the external information, but auxiliary means are needed whereby expression contents of the hand shafts are displayed upon rendering the expression contents of the hand shafts variable. With the timepiece according to the invention, display means for changing display contents on the basis of a change in the hand shaft control means are provided. For the display means, display means capable of providing digital display such as a liquid crystal display device, an organic electroluminescent (EL) device (matrix display), or so forth is used.
For example, a first hand shaft block displays xe2x80x9cTIMExe2x80x9d around the hand shaft thereof for expressing time, a second hand shaft block displays xe2x80x9cTEMPxe2x80x9d for expressing temperature, and a third hand shaft block displays xe2x80x9cDEPTxe2x80x9d for expressing the depth of water.
Further, in the case of using the timepiece as an altimeter (barometer) on the basis of the external information, the first hand shaft block displays xe2x80x9cHEITxe2x80x9d for expressing an altitude, the second hand shaft block displays xe2x80x9cN, S, E, Wxe2x80x9d by every 90 degrees for expressing bearings, and the third hand shaft block displays xe2x80x9cTIMExe2x80x9d for expressing time.
By operating the timepiece in this way, expression by the respective hand shafts can be freely changed as desired by the user using the timepiece, enabling what is expressed to be clearly displayed.
Furthermore, a driving energy supply source such as a battery or the like is needed to render movement of the hand shafts variable according to the external information, and to control a CPU, the RAM, a ROM, and so forth, however, there arises a restriction of power consumption because the driving energy supply source is disposed in a limited space, that is, the timepiece.
For this reason, there is adopted a method whereby power generation part is installed in the timepiece, or the battery is charged when the timepiece is in communication with the external apparatus. As the timepiece is allowed to be in a particular state while in communication, limitation on a method of charging can be alleviated. For example, a method of charging via a cable, a method of charging through induction, a method of charging by use of thermal energy, a method of charging by use of light, and so forth are available.
Further, the control of the hand shafts by the hand shaft control means is restricted depending on the amount of electrical energy that remains in the battery of the timepiece. More specifically, in the case of the timepiece comprising the plurality of the hand shafts, it is possible to reduce consumption of energy of the battery by providing the timepiece with battery consumption reduction means for reducing the number of the hand shafts driven by the hand shaft control means, or driving only one of the hand shafts.
Even in this case, it is possible to determine the order of stopping the respective hand shafts according to an application purpose on the basis of external information.
Furthermore, the user can set by steps the amount of electrical energy that remains in the battery via the communication means, and thereby can set an alarm level, and a level at which a hand shaft is stopped, simultaneously enabling the amount of electrical energy that remains in the battery or a state of charging to be displayed with any of the hand shaft blocks.
Further, the hand shaft control means enables the rotation direction, rotation angle, reciprocating movement, rotation speed, pitch, and so forth of the hands to be controlled on the basis of the information acquired from the external apparatus via the communication means, thereby enabling the user to enjoy beauty in expression given by the hands of the timepiece.
For example, versatile movements of the hands can be produced by combination of a clockwise rotating hand shaft block, a counterclockwise rotating hand shaft block, a hand shaft block having a fan-shaped rotation angle, and a hand shaft block having a large pitch of movement. Further, it is also possible to produce an atmosphere of reversing time or an atmosphere of time elapsing very fast by rendering the speed at which the hands are handled variable, so that an enjoyable timepiece can be offered.
Furthermore, it is important when considering the design of a timepiece that the communication means are invisible from outside, and the outside shape of the timepiece are not under constraints. To that end, the optical communication means are effective. Further, the optical communication means are disposed on the underside (on the back cover side) of the time display face comprising the hand shaft for executing time display or the display means, causing the hand to withdraw from the region of the optical communication means during communication.
Further, optical noises occurring to the optical communication means are reduced by temporarily stopping display by the display means, thereby improving communication capacity.
Also, the sensor for measuring information associated with the application environment of the timepiece is installed, and signals from the sensor can be transmitted to the hand shaft control means via the function selection means, thereby enabling the information acquired by the sensor to be displayed with the hand of the hand shaft block selected by the user.
Furthermore, by installing the testing means for causing the hand shaft control means to test the information acquired from the external apparatus for a short duration during or after communication, it becomes possible to verify whether or not the timepiece can accurately receive the information acquired from the external apparatus, and respective controls are enabled, so that malfunction can be prevented.
In particular, in the case of a watch used for diving, it is particularly useful to verify whether or not malfunction occurs because there is the need for accurate display of the depth of water, and so forth.